Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/01/2024
7:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Categories
This week, Reb Deb Smith will lead the class with Part 3 of Angels and Demons.
Wisdom Class is our Kabbalah study group wherein Rabbi Marc, along with special guest rabbis, bring us the wisdom that lives within the Torah and other Holy texts in weekly 90-minute classes. Participants are guided to understand how to apply these teachings to daily life in the 21st Century, bringing holiness into the mundane.
Most classes are led by Rabbi Marc Labowitz. Members receive ZOOM links via email. Non-members, please CLICK HERE to attend.
About Reb Deb Smith
Rabbi Debra Smith (“Reb Deb”) is the founder and spiritual leader of Congregation Or Ha Lev, a virtual Jewish Renewal Community, formerly physically located in New Jersey. She is also a Clinical Social Worker and Multicultural Family Therapist.
Reb Deb received smicha (rabbinic ordination) from ALEPH, the Alliance for Jewish Renewal. She is also an ordained Maggidah (Jewish Storyteller). The focus of Reb Deb’s rabbinic work is Deep Ecumenism and multi-faith dialogue. As a multi-faith activist, she currently serves as co-chair of the NJ Muslim-Jewish Solidarity Committee and is co-chair of the Morris County 1 NJ chapter of the Sisterhood of Salaam-Shalom.
Reb Deb co-facilitates Jewish-Christian dialogue sessions and Jewish-Muslim dialogues with local pastors and imams. She has developed and is teaching, with a Muslim colleague, an online course in Muslim-Jewish Leadership, for ALEPH: The Alliance for Jewish Renewal. In addition to serving as Rabbi of Congregation Or Ha Lev, Reb Deb is the Rabbi-in-Residence at the Drew University Methodist Theological Seminary in Madison, NJ. She is on the faculty of the ALEPH Ordination Program where she teaches Pastoral Counseling and Clergy Ethics.
She is the author of Every Tallit Tells a Tale, which teaches about the history and evolution of the tallit (prayer shawl) and shares 75 stories about the tallit from many contributors throughout the country and as far away as Israel. She is also the author and editor of a collection of original multi-faith prayers, poems and blessings from more than 40 contributors, Words from the Heart, released this past summer.
About Rabbi Marc Labowitz
Rabbi Marc Labowitz is the spiritual leader for Temple Adath Or (TAO), serving as the Rabbi and educator for the largest Jewish Renewal Center in the Southeast. Rabbi Marc embraces the ideas of freedom, acceptance, and love by fostering a warm, vibrant, and caring Jewish community. His passion for joyful Judaism is experienced through his musical talents and informative, deeply spiritual teaching.
Rabbi Marc is a renowned leader, serving our community in South Florida since 2002. His music, liturgy, and speaking ability have afforded him opportunity to serve individuals from around the world, businesses, and CEOs from multi-national companies. He has been featured on national radio and continues to travel, providing Rabbinic service to families across the country and internationally. He has served as keynote speaker, scholar in residence officiant for synagogues in Madrid, Paris, politicos in Miami and New York, and concerts around the United States and Israel.
Rabbi Marc is also an award-winning composer of over 30 original Jewish songs and melodies. He founded The TAO Orchestra with fellow professional musicians and songwriters, whose classical training and experience include playing with A-list artists and national philharmonics. TAO is also led by Rabbi Marc’s wife, Paulina, and his children Galia, Ocean and Kole Kerev.
Founded by Rabbi Marc’s father, Rabbi Phillip Labowitz, and his mother, Rabbi Shoni Labowitz, z’l, TAO benefits from wonderful and deeply committed leaders and volunteers, many of whom have been with TAO for 30+ years.
Rabbi Marc continues to build community beyond TAO. He founded All Fed – Feeding the Homeless and Hungry of South Florida and TAO’s Homeward Choir, a soulful outlet for homeless citizens. He is on the Board of Street Waves, a program teaching inner city youth to swim and surf. In addition to leading TAO since 2002, he was a faculty member of Melton AMS and CAJE from 2006-2008 and a Rabbinic Assistant at Scottsdale Torah Institute from 1997-2002.
